


Day Four: Dahlia

by TheAsexualofSpades



Series: Peggysous Week 2020 [4]
Category: Agent Carter (Marvel Short Film), Agent Carter (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Post-Episode: s02e10 Hollywood Ending, people are annoying and peggy is tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:15:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades
Summary: Dahlia: Staying graceful under pressure, especially in challenging situations, Drawing upon inner strength to succeed, Traveling and making a major life change in a positive way, Standing out from the crowd and following your own unique path, Staying kind despite being tested by certain life events, Finding a balance between adventure and relaxation, Commitment to another person or a certain ideal.***Starting a fledgling intelligence agency isn’t easy. It especially isn’t easy when one is a woman in the 1940s. Peggy Carter has her work cut out for her. Luckily, she’s got a steady partner that is ready to take up the slack and keep them afloat.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Series: Peggysous Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857973
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28
Collections: Peggysous Week 2020





	Day Four: Dahlia

**Author's Note:**

> mad respect for peggy for starting shield with all these bags of nonsense

Peggy is not one for ladylike behavior, as well her mother would say. Still, she does maintain a certain sense of decorum, especially when she’s working. She’s a professional, and a mighty good one at that, and everyone else better damn well get used to it. 

That doesn’t stop her from hurling her coat onto the coat rack, dropping her bag heavily onto the nearest chair, and letting out a stream of curses that would blister the ears of most soldiers. 

Daniel chuckles as he locks the door behind them. “So, bad day?”

“I swear, if one more person asks me if my ‘emotional profile’ fits the standard of work I’m trying to accomplish,” Peggy growls, storming toward the rest of the house, “I am _going_ to introduce them to a severe attitude adjustment.”

“That…may not have the effect you want.”

“No, but it will give me some much needed stress relief.”

They make it to the kitchen, Peggy throwing herself into one of the chairs, Daniel propping his crutch against the counter as he starts prepping things for dinner. Peggy pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing in frustration. 

“If I had known how difficult it would be to convince people that we need to be able to operate _outside_ of the traditional branches, I wouldn’t’ve _asked_ them in the first place.”

“You know how hard it is to talk people out of things they think will get them power,” Daniel says, filling a glass with water and setting it at Peggy’s elbow, “especially the kind of people we meet in this job.”

“And here I thought most people came to the SSR to save the world.”

“I think they do.” Daniel opens the fridge and takes out a bag of vegetables. “They’re just not completely sure what that means anymore.”

Peggy huffs, watching Daniel produce a cutting board. “I’m not sure I do either.”

Daniel pauses, glancing over his shoulder to see Peggy running a finger thoughtfully around the rim of her glass. She catches him looking and smiles sadly. He turns around, leaning against the counter, waiting. 

Peggy sighs, shifting her weight in the chair. 

“I know I keep coming back to this,” she murmurs, looking down, “and at some point, I’ll have to accept that it’s different.”

“But…?” Daniel prompts. 

“But,” Peggy sighs, “during the war, everything was…simpler. There was my side and there was the other side. And everything that we had to do was…fine. As long as it was to help win the war.”

“And now nothing is simple,” Daniel finishes, “we don’t live in a black and white world anymore.”

“But we never _did_ ,” Peggy says softly, “did we? All the things we did in the war, they were only fine because we were at war. And now…”

She lifts her shoulder in an exhausted shrug. “Now I don’t know when I’m at war and when I’m not.”

Daniel taps his fingers idly against the counter, thinking. Peggy’s right. The truth rings silently in the kitchen, too loud. Too quiet. 

“We have to do our best,” Daniel says, breaking the silence, “that’s all we can do.”

“And what if the best thing to do is start over?”

Daniel shrugs. “Then we start over.” He frowns when Peggy’s gaze hardens into a strange mix of sadness and fury. “What?”

She shakes her head. “It’s nothing.”

Daniel huffs lightly, pushing himself away from the counter and coming to Peggy’s side. “Now I don’t believe that for a second.”

She hides a smile. 

Daniel pulls a chair around to sit next to her. “It’s only me, Peg,” he says quietly, “I won’t judge you.”

Taking comfort in the warmth Daniel’s proximity provides, Peggy speaks. 

“Remake the world,” she murmurs, “according to what’s right and wrong. Take the people that don’t agree with it out of the equation.”

Daniel nods. Peggy turns to look at him, her eyes wild. 

“That’s what HYDRA wanted to do too.”

“Oh, Peggy,” Daniel says, “you’re not HYDRA.”

“And what makes me different?”

“You care about _protecting_ people, Peg, keeping them safe. You care about their freedom.”

“And yet I want to create an agency that spies on them in their own homes,” Peggy spits, “violate their privacy.”

“But you _know_ that,” Daniel says, “you _know_ that we sometimes have to do things that make us sleep a little less easily because it’s too keep them safe.”

“Is their security worth the price of their freedom?”

Daniel falters, sighing. He takes Peggy’s hand. 

“I don’t know the answer to that, Peggy,” he says honestly, “and…I don’t know where the line is anymore either. We’re…we jump at shadows, putting flashlights some places and purposely avoiding others.”

He looks at her properly. “But there _is_ a line. We know there is. And that’s what we have to remember.”

“And who says where that line is?”

“You told me you wanted to make this new organization because you were sick of people in the government having their own agendas,” Daniel says, turning to face her more, “do you still believe that?”

When she nods, he leans forward. “Then _that’s_ where the line is. We do the work we do because we know what can happen when we _don’t_.”

“But how do we keep ourselves from falling into the same trap?”

Daniel smiles. “We keep ourselves in check. Build out the organization with people who will check each other’s worst impulses. We gotta keep _asking_ about where the line is.”

“And for what it’s worth,” he added, leaning closer, “bad guys don’t normally care about being better.” 

Peggy, whose shoulders had been continually relaxing as Daniel spoke, shakes her head slowly at him. “How do you always know what to say?”

Daniel shrugs. “Because a lot of that stuff was what you said to me to convince me that this whole thing was gonna work in the first place.”

She laughs when he gives her a look. “Plus, you’re very persuasive when you wanna be.”

Peggy leans back against the wall, absentmindedly toying with the collar of her shirt. “I know I can deal with all of this, it’s just…it gets so tiring.”

“Well, I’m always here to help,” Daniel says, “even though you’re more than capable of handling whatever those adolescents throw at you.”

At the reminder of one of their first _proper_ conversations, Peggy smiles. Daniel gives her hand one more squeeze as he gets up, resuming the preparation of whatever he’s making for tonight. Peggy watches his movements with a smile. He moves confidently, with a grace that belies the strength hidden in his body. She remembers hearing the whispers of his fighting skills back when she first joined the office, seeing them firsthand on one of the first missions. He moved like his body belonged to him, like he knew it intimately, inside and out. The same way he handled a pen, or a wall of evidence, or a well-placed word over the phone. Speaking of which…

Peggy groans, getting up from the table only to be met with a mock stern look from Daniel. 

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“I have a call,” she explains through a sharp roll of her shoulders, “with Senator Daniels.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Daniel,” Peggy mumbles, arching to get the crick out of her neck, “as much as I appreciate you trying to get me to take the night off, this call is—“

“I had it earlier, remember?” Daniel slides a mound of veggies into a pot on the stove—when did that get there? “You had a meeting with the lab boys about the new gizmos and I had the call.”

Ah, yes. That’s right. Peggy sighs. “At least I won’t have him gargling over the phone at me.”

“No,” Daniel grimaces, producing pasta from one of the cabinets, “I’m not sure that man knows how to clear his throat.”

“In that case, I suppose I’ll have to fill out Rose’s acquisition forms,” Peggy sighs, “and I left my good pen at the office too…”

“Those are done too,” Daniel calls, breaking the pasta in half, “just waiting for your signature. In your desk drawer. At the office.”

Peggy stops, frowning at Daniel who just shoots her a grin and starts another pan. “Have you done all my work for me?”

“You mean have I done the work that is required for doing this thing that we are doing together?” Daniel smirks and turns back to stirring whatever is smelling absolutely _delicious_ in the pot at his elbow. “in that case, yes, I have done things. What, you think I just sit on my ass the whole day and do nothing?”

“No, I just…” Now having nowhere to go, Peggy drifts slowly to his side, drawn by the intoxicating scent. She breathes in slowly, a rich tomato smell, the cooking pasta, the slight tinge of the herbs and spices. “…mm.”

“Smell good?”

She opens her eyes at Daniel’s soft voice, finding herself much closer to him than she realized. Like this, tucked against the counter over the stove, the heat from the burners flowing gently through the air, they’re in their own little bubble. It’s safe. 

“This,” Peggy murmurs quietly, smiling a little when Daniel’s brow does that adorable little confused quirk, “this is what I want. For people to feel this.”

Recognition dawns and his face breaks out into a proper grin, switching his stirring hand and opening his arm. She steps closer, allowing him to wrap around her waist and pull her closer. She pecks his temple, feeling the warmth of the steam curl around them, burying her nose in the crook of his neck. 

“I got you, Peg,” Daniel murmurs, turning his cheek to rest against her forehead, “I’ll always be there for you. Even if you decide the best thing to do is start over.”

“And what if I no longer know what’s best?”

“Then I’ll stand by your side while we figure it out again.”

“What would I do without you,” she ponders, wrapping her arms around his waist and planting her chin on his shoulder, watching their dinner take shape in front of them. 

She feels the rumble of Daniel’s chuckle and smiles at the warmth it brings. “You’d kick ass, Peggy Carter. You know you would.”

“Mm.” She nuzzles a little further into him. “But would I be as happy?”

“Now that I can’t answer,” he says, “but I can promise that I will do my best to make you happy.”

“And safe?”

“And safe.” Daniel sets aside the spoon for a moment and closes the embrace, tucking them both up against the counter. “You have me, Peggy Carter, in whatever capacity you want, for as long as you want.”

Peggy smiles, drawing back long enough to kiss this wonderful, _wonderful_ man. 

“And you will have me.”


End file.
